A Tribute to Mike Noble by Lee Sullivan

I got to know Mike Noble in his later years through a mutual friend; we took a few dozen original artwork pages (on loan for an exhibition) from his run on ‘Fireball XL5’ down to his bungalow in Balcombe for him to look at. It was the first time he’d seen them since he had sent them by train to London to be published in TV21 in the mid-1960s. We spent hours poring over the stunning artwork, and even though he was always by far my favourite artist in TV21, it wasn’t really until we spent so much time looking so closely at the originals that I started to fully appreciate what a wonderful artist he really was.

Such attention to detail as well as the obvious dynamics he brought to figure work and craft alike. The assassination of the Kaplan, for instance, has a crowd scene I’ve never seen bettered anywhere, beautifully rendered in the most exquisite line and wash.

This started a repeated scenario every time I spoke to him, with me telling him that he was a brilliant artist and a genius of the comics world, him blushing self-effacingly and gently pushing aside my genuine praise. There is a kind of curse for those who have gained some proficiency in any field: when people compliment you on the quality of your work, there is always the nagging internal voice that says ‘yes, but that’s because you can’t see all the faults’. Whatever skills you have are never quite adequate enough to achieve the results you’re after, and you can always see others getting better results. I think this was true of Mike, and I was very keen to impress upon him how widely admired he really was, especially among artists who had grown up reading his strips, many of whom feel as I do that he was sometimes overlooked in comparison with the other two Greats of that period, Frank Bellamy and Ron Embleton. Mike himself said he was always chasing them and learning from what he saw them doing, but such diverse styles aren’t easily comparable anyway, and his sheer quality shines through in every piece of work he produced. Characters and craft appear to be in motion even when standing still, and when they are moving they dance across the page.

His quest for improvement and experimentation was still evident in his eighties; when we talked about my own move to digital art, he was extremely interested in the process, and he asked if it would be possible to perhaps combine some of his own ‘longhand’ art with some digital art of mine? I assured him we could indeed do that – all the time boggling at the prospect of working with him and at my own cheek in thinking I could live up to his standards. This resulted in our joint ‘Zero-X’ art print, which proved popular with Anderson fans, and led to our subsequent collaborations on two recent Captain Scarlet projects: the box art for the forthcoming Big Chief Studios Captain Scarlet 12” figure and a poster for the Network Blu-ray release of Scarlet. Both referenced his famous TV21 cover ‘Scarlet Deathfall’; the poster was produced in his eighty-seventh year in the nick of time, just before his health took a turn for the worse and artworking became much harder for him. I’m so pleased those commercial commissions came along, it showed how much his work was still valued, and being part of them was one of the proudest moments in my own career.

Although he had not been in great health for the last year and was being looked after at a care residence near to his home in Balcombe, he remained cheerful and was working till the end, illustrating characters from Dylan Thomas’ ‘Under Milk Wood’. It was a pleasure to have known him; he was kind, supremely talented and a true gentleman. We’re the poorer for his loss, yet the richer for the body of work he leaves behind.

About US

Gerry Anderson was born on 14 April 1929, and through a combination of skill and an incredible level of determination earned his first credit as a producer when he was still in his 20s. Years before the word ‘brand’ was popularly applied to television, Gerry’s name came to represent an inimitable style of entertainment that proved hugely successful around the world. From Fireball XL5 to Space: 1999, Captain Scarlet to Space Precinct, Supercar to Thunderbirds - he has become the UK's equivalent of Walt Disney.
During the 1960s Gerry used puppetry to realise epic science fiction scenarios that would have been impossible to achieve in anything other than miniature scale. The names of the shows he produced during this era are familiar to millions, and continue to entertain audiences today. An incredible feat unsurpassed by any other British TV and film producer.
As the optimism of the 1960s faded, Gerry Anderson created darker scenarios for the new decade. Live-action series UFO and Space: 1999 anticipated the accomplishments of Star Wars and are still regarded by many as his finest work.
He was never content to stand still, and his programmes became increasingly diverse in the 1980s. He made a welcome return to puppetry for Terrahawks and brought the animated private detective Dick Spanner to the screen, while developing a parallel career as an award-winning director of sophisticated television commercials.
In the 1990s he created and produced the lavish live-action series Space Precinct, before returning to children’s entertainment with the enchanting Lavender Castle. In 2001 he was awarded an MBE for services to the British film industry.
The astonishing New Captain Scarlet premièred in 2005, by which time Gerry (then 76) was long past the age when most people consider retiring. His enthusiasm for the next project, and his fascination for the latest technology, remained undimmed through much of his final illness. He passed away on 26 December 2012.
Despite being relatively shy, and never really spending much time looking back and reminiscing over his achievements Gerry Anderson came to appreciate that for many people his shows represented a special time in their lives. And he was proud that the ingenuity and optimism of his characters galvanised some viewers who went on to distinguished careers within film, television and other fields.
Thunderbirds has inspired movies, stage shows and a vast array of merchandise, all reflecting its phenomenal impact on our popular culture, and together with his other shows is cherished by many generations of viewers.